Little Things
by Gray Skyed
Summary: When Duo is caught sneaking around the estate by the others at various times, they all investigate to see what he is doing. Some slight 1x2 at the end. A dash of angst with lots of friendship and some silliness.


Okay so normally I don't like starting new stories when I already have one going. But I finished about two chapters of privilege today and decided about 20 mins before I had to stop writing, that I wanted to work on something else. This is just a small fluffy/small angsty one shot about just about everyone with some small 1x2. I am still going to finish privilege and this is not a new series just a small one shot that popped up in my head when I got sick of working on privilege so much in one day. Hope you guys enjoy it!

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Trowa pov----

I was heading into the kitchen to grab lunch when I caught him. Duo is always pulling pranks on us, I think its to make us just let out a good laugh. Expending emotional energy can help keep us sane. I caught him mid-prank, pouring something into a bottle of shampoo; to be more specific, Wufei's conditioner. I knew he was going to get himself an angry Chinese man chasing him but I was going to let it slide, the pranks just made everything slightly less hard to deal with. When you knew there was that little prank that would make you laugh at the end of the day, it was easier to deal with the constant pressure and hard times. We had gotten Duo back before as well, it had turned into a prank war and some days I woke up thinking "I wonder what pranks got set up while I was sleeping" instead of waking up to the faces of those people I had murdered.

I grabbed the ingredients to make a sandwich out of the fridge and set it down on the counter as I watched Duo shaking up Wufei's conditioner. I smiled and spoke up  
" So what devious thing are we doing today?". He blushed deeply then looked away.

"Uhm its actually kind of embarrassing...."

I raised my eyebrow, leaning back using the counter to hold myself up I saw a bottle of honey sitting on the table behind him. "I don't see how adding honey to Wufei's shampoo can be embarrassing for you. Though to be honest I don't think it will make it look much different than normal with how tight and slicked back he tends to wear his hair."

I watched as he bit his lip and fiddled with the end of his braid. "Well this isn't exactly a prank... You see I tried this once before but instead of it doing anything funny it just ended up helping Fei's hair. See I waited a few days for him to use it and I never got yelled at or chased but I noticed his hair looked really shiny and nice. I realized it was the honey I had mixed in. I think Wufei noticed too because he started buying the same brand all the time after that. Every time he buys a new bottle and I am around I mix in the honey... It sounds so silly now but its just one of those little things that makes him happy. I won't be able to catch it every time but I have managed to pull it of for the last six months or so, so far. The bottles last a good amount of time so as long as I can mix in the stuff before he uses it a lot he never notices the difference... I know it's stupid I just... He really likes it I think; he wears his hair down every now and then too."

I was surprised by the answer but it was easy to understand. I gave him a big smile and patted his upper arm. "Don't worry Duo, I won't tell anyone you have a soft side, but next time mix in a little pink dye too just to make sure you don't loose your touch, got it?"

He broke out in a big smile and nodded, then headed off to put Wufei's conditioner back and I headed off to eat my lunch.

Wufei's POV-----

I saw him sneaking into the fruit trees and knew he was up to no good. His silly pranks were distracting; they took up our precious time, made us focus on things we shouldn't be focusing on. I followed him, quiet as possible. I saw him going through the apples, picking one, looking at it, then tossing it, repeating the process. He must have been looking for a good rotten one or something with worms in it. Though the ones he was tossing didn't look all that great. He must have been looking for a very rank one. I snuck up on him and grabbed his braid and pulled. He reeled around after almost falling over.

"Geeze, Fei! What were you trying to do rip off my braid? I know you are jealous man but it does happen to be real and attached to my head."

I lifted my brow at his typical animated response. "Just what are you doing out here Maxwell? All of these apples are bad, there is no one tending these trees and they are filled with bugs and rotten. So I can only imagine you are trying to pull some sort of prank and I will have no part of it."

He pulled a few apples from where they had been cradled in his shirt. They were bright red with hints of yellow and unblemished. "Nah, Fei, they ain't all bad just hard to find the good ones is all."

I watched as he gently placed the apples back into the cradle of his shirt. "I know you don't like apples Maxwell, you practically choked when we tried to get you to eat one."

He stopped his apple search for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, no, I don't like them. But Quatre loves them. Have you ever noticed if there is an apple around it will likely be attached to his mouth before anyone else can even ogle it? I am not sure why he loves them so much. But when we came here his eyes grew to the size of saucers, then he got out here and thought the same as you, that they were all bad. He looked kind of disappointed for a bit after that so I came and checked it out. It took a while but I found some good ones so now I just come and find a few and put them in the fruit bowl for the next morning"

His shoulders shrugged then, and I realized he was trying to cover up the fact that he was doing something nice for Winner. I felt my face heat up in shame at how I acted and nodded curtly before I beat a hasty retreat.

Quatre POV----

I saw Duo heading out of the kitchen with a look of determination on his face and I knew what he was up to. There was probably a prank soon to follow. I knew the wisest place to be was probably right behind him. If some foul smell was going to start oozing from the kitchen I didn't want to be around when it did. I loved Duo's pranks, they made Trowa lighten up and smile, and Wufei didn't realize it yet but it kept him from getting overly obsessive with the war. I always got a good laugh from most of them. I think even Heero was laughing behind that emotionless face of his.

I kept my distance hoping he wouldn't notice me, I didn't want the prank to be turned on me but I also didn't want to end up getting caught in the aftermath. I saw him pause at the hallway closet and pull out something small that glinted, then he continued on his way to the laundry room. Oh Allah not my shirts! He was going to cut them to bits I just knew it! I sped up as fast as I could and rounded the corner to see him sitting on the tile with a surprised look on his face. He had one of Heero's shirts in his hand and what looked like a bobbin of green string dangling from his mouth. I saw him pull the thread from his mouth and speak up. "Didya need something Cat?"

I stared in shock at the scene before me, he wasn't cutting up any shirts he was sewing up a rip in one of Heero's. I shook my head and managed to speak. "Why are you sewing Heero's shirt?"

He went back to sewing the shirt with a shrug. "As much as I am sure we all question Heero's fashion sense he really loves these clothes and I know it bugs him when he has to toss something. He really feels like its wasteful so when his shirt gets a tear he lets it go until its almost in shreds before letting it go. But if you sew up the tear fast enough the shirt can last a lot longer."

I watched him stare intently at the shirt as he sewed it up. The tear was along the seem and Duo seemed quite proficient at sewing, Heero would probably never know. With a smile I ran back to the closet, grabbing the small sewing kit and came back to join him. Pulling out the clothes from the baskets, and looking them over for holes. I found a hole in Wufei's white traditional shirt that I knew he loved. I pulled out the string and a needle and began to sew. Duo just smiled at me as he tied off the end of his stitching.

Heero POV------

I saw Duo and Quatre come out of the laundry room chuckling with a pile of clothes in their hands. Some of which were mine. I trusted Quatre not to mess with anything, but Duo on the other hand, could very easily have stuck a bug in my shirt just for kicks and grins. I saw them head into the rooms and set everyone's clothes down. I went into my room after Duo and checked out my clothing, finding nothing wrong. Which was odd I could have sworn there was a tear in some of my shirts, maybe I was just not sleeping enough lately.

I looked out my bedroom window to see Duo setting up a ladder in the backyard and I smirked. He was up to something and I wanted to see. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the pranks, as long as they weren't being pulled on me. So I walked around through the house to the backyard to see Duo climbing the ladder, carrying something up it. Probably a bucket of water, that was when a clever idea struck me, kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Duo wasn't far up the ladder when I walked over and shook it slightly.

I watched him wobble and flail his arm to try and balance out then fall onto the soft grass. I hadn't really intended to make him fall but no harm had been done. I watched as whatever he had been carrying spilled all over him and he looked up at me embarrassed. "Oh, heya there Ro, got me good that time."

I stared in curiosity at the bird seed that covered him. "What were you doing with bird seed?"

He stood up brushing some of it off and trying to shake as much of it as he could from his hair. "Oh, well, it's for the birds."

I looked up and sure enough there was a bird feeder directly overhead. "Weren't you the one complaining that the birds woke you up in the morning, Duo? Why would you be feeding them?"

He started to head back to the shed the small tub in his hands. "Well its cuz' Tro loves the little buggers. He will sit at the table in the morning and take his time eating so he can watch them and stuff. But the squirrels empty this feeder almost daily so I have to refill it."

It was certainly not what I had expected but I offered to hold the ladder while he climbed up and filled the feeder.

Duo's POV----------

It was weird at first, when we had time off; when I was on the streets I was always occupied. But just being told we had to sit and occupy ourselves I thought I would go crazy. TV seemed ridiculous; we lived those action filled movies in our lives every day I didn't want to watch it happen I wanted to experience it. I wanted to go crazy having to just sit there. But I finally found ways to occupy my time, half the time I was pulling pranks, making the others laugh at each other or themselves. The rest of the time I was just doing those little things, that didn't have to be done but seeing the smiling faces, er, as close to smiling as they would get, of the others when I did it, made it worth the work.

I had just finished washing all the bird seed out of my hair and was walking out of the bathroom when I heard the radio crackle. I walked over to it, adjusting the tuning and finally professor J's voice came over the static.

"Hello, is anyone there? We have a mission that needs completion within the next twenty-four hours. I have contacted Heero on his laptop but do not have a response yet."

I picked up the radio and responded. "This is 02, what is the mission?"

J seemed to pause, as if surprised by the response, how long had he been calling? "Good, 02 please fetch 01; this mission needs to be accomplished ASAP."

I turned to go find Heero then paused and picked up the radio handle again "Hey, J, is there any chance that I can take this mission?"

I could almost hear him contemplating this on the other end. "Hm, I suppose you would work just as well, and the sooner this is done the better. I will send you the specifics in a few minutes please go and pack."

Okay, I admit it, I am just a bit head over heels for Heero and any little thing I can do to help him I would gladly do. I skipped off to my room to pack my things. Taking the radio with me to hear all the specifics and what I would need. I left a note for the others and told Quatre, who I ran into as I was heading out.

Heero POV----

We found out from Quatre that Duo had gone on a mission. I checked my laptop and sure enough there was an email from J, I was surprised I hadn't noticed it sooner; my laptop hadn't made a sound… odd. I checked the volume and it was completely turned down, I must have bumped it and not noticed. I turned up the volume and headed off to start making dinner for everyone, taking a note from Duo's actions earlier that day.

It wasn't long after dinner that my laptop started beeping again and I got up quickly to check it. I opened up my messages and my heart froze when I saw what the latest message was. Deathscythe had self destruct. There were tracers in our gundams that let the others know when this happened. I felt ridiculous at first, since the only thing I could think was, oh god, who will fill the feeders. Shock is an odd thing at first you think stupid menial things then you go into denial, after that it hits hard and suddenly you are crying without tears and wondering why you don't have tears. Except I managed to control most of the crying part, instead I went into a mission state of mind and went to find the others… to tell them….

Quatre POV

The tile beneath me was cold as I sat in the laundry room, sewing up a few holes in Trowa's shirt. I tried to keep the tears at bay, thinking of what had started this new off habit of mine. It had been a month since we got the message that Duo had self destruct and with each day that passed there was less and less hope he would ever come back. To be realistic there should be no hope left but I was…. Stubborn, maybe that was something he taught me.

I picked up the now folded laundry and set it on everyone's beds. I walked into the kitchen, looking for the others to let them know about their clothes. I saw an apple in the basket and grabbed it, taking a bite. I looked up to see Trowa shaking Wufei's shampoo bottle in his hand. I lifted an eyebrow and I saw him look away from me and walk off, as if nothing was happening. I stared at the bottle of honey still left on the counter and put it away, wondering if Trowa was trying to pull a prank on Wufei. I didn't know how I felt about that. All pranks came to a cease fire on that horrible day over a month ago. I couldn't decide whether I would laugh or break down crying when a prank was pulled.

I looked out the window to see Heero standing on a ladder, with a bucket of some sort in his hand and decided to go talk to him. I walked out and spoke up to get his attention "Hey, Heero!"

I saw him step down from the ladder and look over at me. "Hey, your laundry is on your bed. What were you doing by the way?"

He looked a little sheepish and mumbled his answer so I almost couldn't hear it. "I am feeding the birds because Trowa likes to watch them."

I froze when he said that "You sounded… just like him" I had to close my eyes and put a hand over my mouth to stop from crying. He looked up at me and spoke in a more emotional voice than I had ever heard. "Do you.. think he is alive?"

I opened my eyes and let out a small laugh. "Well every time I try and … accept that he is dead, this little voice in the back of my mind jumps out and shouts 'Haha I got you guys good that time! You didn't really think I was gone did you?'"

I could see him struggling with his emotions but he nodded, walking off.

Trowa POV--------

It's been two months since the last time we saw Duo, I have been secretly sneaking honey into Wufei's conditioner every chance I got. We finally left that safe house; it was both a prison and a sanctuary. It was a place we could remember him, but it was also torture to have a constant reminder of a fallen comrade. We finally planned a funeral for him, just us. The doctors didn't know about it, I doubt they would have approved of us all coming together like that, putting everything at risk just to say our final goodbye to Duo. But I wouldn't be told no, and I don't think the others would either.

We agreed to not bury an empty coffin; it seemed like a waste of resources, to bury something without a body just for the significance. Instead we were just going to bury one of his priest outfits under a large tree at one of the nicer Winner estates; a place overlooking a beautiful little manmade lake. Duo often marveled at the beauty in Quatre's estates, the simplest things were marvelous in his eyes and sometimes I wish I could see things the same way.

I finished shaking the bottle of conditioner and snuck it back into Wufei's bag. We had a mission together and I noticed it was a new bottle. He was out getting us dinner and I was mixing up the special concoction that Duo had come up with for him.

Wufei's POV-------

I had picked the apples for almost a month after Duo left. Every time I saw Quatre walking around eating one I had to swallow the lump in my throat. He didn't realize how much time Duo had spent just to get him those stupid apples, and it was something to occupy my time, instead of thinking about that damn baka.

We all missed him so much, I realized after he was gone, how much his distractions helped me from getting too stressed. Some days I woke up with a headache a few times after he was gone and realized I had just gotten too deep into the war. I forgot that my body and mind needed to relax, they weren't machines.

Today was the day of the funeral, and I had been spending half my morning meditating. I wouldn't cry damnit. I arrived at the estate first, and leaned against the tree where we were going to bury his priest outfit. Trowa showed up carrying the outfit, he had been closest to the old estate when we had decided on what to do. Quatre came up with puffy red eyes and a slightly swollen nose, we all knew he had probably been crying all day. Yuy was the last and I was surprised to see blood shot and red rimmed eyes. He held a white collar in his hand, that was missing from the outfit and I wondered how he had gotten it.

We all nodded to each other and Quatre stepped forward with the shovel he had brought from the estate shed and started to dig a small hole. Trowa laid the outfit into the hole and Yuy followed, reluctantly releasing the collar into the black hole. I had just started to shovel some of the dirt back over the clothes when I heard a voice behind me.

"Woah, hey guys, I realize you may not have liked all those pranks but I don't recall ever going this far and burying your stuff…"

I have never seen Yuy hug someone before in my life but I was slightly scared of trying to tell him to stop. Trowa and Quatre were both crying and even I gave in and joined the group hug. That stupid baka how could he have done this to us!? Just when we were ready to say goodbye he pops up.

Duo's POV------

It was one hell of thing to find them. It took over a month just to wake up again from the explosion and another month to get to the point where I could be discharged. I didn't want to sneak out of the hospital that would look too suspicious so I just played good patient and had to bide my time.

I finally got into contact with the scientists a few days ago, and they told me about this little get together. They said the pilots didn't think they knew but they did, and wouldn't deny them there goodbye. I drove for almost forty eight hours straight just to get here. Luckily those old bags of men were smart enough to realize a little self destruct wasn't the end of me. They had almost completed the recreation of Deathscythe. I thought Heero was going to tackle me like a football player when they finally saw me, and admittedly I was giddy as a school girl over his reaction. I don't think I have ever seen Trowa cry, and Fei even joined in our hug! We spent almost the rest of the day just talking, laughing and crying. Heero gave me a ride to his safe house and when I tried to go to my own bed he crawled in with me and practically put me in a stranglehold. That was the night everything started…

That was the night he asked my why I had done all those little things, apparently he had noticed all those things I was doing and I told him the truth. "Because it's the little things that count, Heero. Trowa will remember watching the birds, Wufei will be proud of his hair, Quatre will enjoy his favorite snack and you.. can have your favorite shirts for a little longer. It's the little things that can make everyday worth fighting for, and when we look back I want to remember the little things, not the horrors."

Heero's POV----

It has been two weeks since Deathscythe was completed, and tomorrow Duo had a mission. I was scared to death and I held him close to me, watching him sleep. I could afford to lose the sleep, I had no mission tomorrow. As the digital numbers in the clock shifted to say 2:03 am I slid out of bed. I snuck through the house on quiet feet, jogging to where we hid the gundams. I opened up Deathscythe, Duo and I had eachothers passwords. I flipped open the control panel, going through the colored wires, finding exactly the one I wanted. I pulled out a thin piece of razor wire and ran it over the wire, cutting it halfway and setting it back into place. It didn't look broken but it certainly didn't work anymore. I smirked and jumped out of Deathscythe. I ran back to our room, climbing back into bed with him in time for him to curl up against me and complain that I felt cold and had left. I mumbled about going to the bathroom and he went back to sleep, getting ready for his mission tomorrow. I just sat and smiled as I thought about my small sabotage; let's see Duo try and self destruct now. Because after all, he was right, it was the little things that counted, the little things that showed you cared.


End file.
